Sculpture garden the setting for sun-powered sound in Wilmington. Craig Colorusso's Sound + Light 'meditative' installation ends this weekend, but there are plenty of ways to take part, or just partake.
William Bretzger/The News Journal

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The Delaware Art Museum hosts a 10-day exhibition which ends this Sunday in the Museum's Copeland Sculpture Garden, Craig Colorusso: Sound + Light features the artist's Sun Boxes with special presentations of his CUBEMUSIC in the Labyrinth in the Anthony N. Fusco Reservoir.(Photo: Suchat Pederson, The News Journal)Buy Photo

Craig Colorusso has THE hot exhibit of the week: His Sound + Light program in the Delaware Art Museum's sculpture garden.

"That is accurate," Colorusso says, joking about about the weather.

His installation of small solar-powered boxes, each emitting its own signature note to form a piece of music, has been lucky enough to land during one of Delaware's warmest weeks this summer, with temperatures in the mid to high 90s.

Which is fortunate for First Staters because it's a "very chill" exhibit, the artist says,

"I would say it's atmospheric," says the 47-year-old Rogers, Arkansas, resident. "It's slow. It unfolds over time. I could say for sure that no one has ever left more stressed out that when they got there."

The exhibit runs through Sunday, with yoga, tai chi, artist chats and other programs attached.

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The Delaware Art Museum hosts a 10-day exhibition which ends this Sunday in the Museum's Copeland Sculpture Garden, Craig Colorusso: Sound + Light features the artist's Sun Boxes with special presentations of his CUBEMUSIC in the Labyrinth in the Anthony N. Fusco Reservoir.(Photo: Suchat Pederson, The News Journal)

The idea for the sun boxes grew from Colorusso's career as a musician who played guitar and bass clarinet in various bands that traveled the country.

"There's always a barrier between the audience and the performers," he says. "I think that's cool but I wanted to try to break that down. All of my pieces are little environments. I encourage people to enter and exit at their own will."

He attends all of his own programs, moving boxes throughout the Copeland Sculpture Garden during the day to chase the sun, and enjoys watching people interact with the exhibit.

"There's a certain amount of training," he says. "Sometimes people stand outside and look at it like they are looking at performers. I encourage people to walk in and look around and find a spot that works best for them."

He likes the idea that the exhibit gives people a moment to stop and experience something besides everyday worries.

"I needed that," he says. "I'm an artist on the go. I have a computer in my pocket always."

The genesis of his project began in 1995, when he chatted on the phone with Sexy David Sanchez-Burr, then a gallery owner in Richmond, Virginia. Sexy Dave hired the band to play at his gallery. The show was "awesome." And then cops and fire officials descended on the place.

Colorusso believes a local rock club felt threatened and turned Sexy David in. Colorusso was questioned by police and told them it was just a pass-the-hat kind of thing, even though it wasn't. Even so, the gallery was shut down and Sexy Dave was arrested.

As Sexy Dave passed Colorusso, he thrust a wad of cash into hand and said, "Here's that money. All of my stuff is in the street and I'm going to jail right now."

"I thought any guy who gives me money on his way to jail is my friend for life," Colorusso says.

Fast-forward to 2008, and Colorusso gets a call from Sexy Dave: "Yo, make something solar," he told Colorusso and hung up.

Sexy Dave, Colorusso and friend Richard Vosseller headed to the Goldwell Open Air Museum in Nevada to create an exhibit they called "Off the Grid." Each piece had to be about sustainable energy.

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The Delaware Art Museum hosts a 10-day exhibition which ends this Sunday in the Museum's Copeland Sculpture Garden, Craig Colorusso: Sound + Light features the artist's Sun Boxes with special presentations of his CUBEMUSIC in the Labyrinth in the Anthony N. Fusco Reservoir.(Photo: Suchat Pederson, The News Journal)

"Sun boxes was my contribution," Colorusso says. He was still thinking about the barrier between artist and audience. "I wanted to make something that people could feel like they were a part of. The idea of an environment was so appealing.

"With the boxes, it's open-ended. Wherever there is sun, they will make sound."

Each box has its own pre-recorded guitar note. If they were all allowed to play without interruption, it would take 3.2 months to complete the work, the artist says.

"That's not going to happen on this planet," Colorusso says.

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The Delaware Art Museum hosts a 10-day exhibition which ends this Sunday in the Museum's Copeland Sculpture Garden, Craig Colorusso: Sound + Light features the artist's Sun Boxes with special presentations of his CUBEMUSIC in the Labyrinth in the Anthony N. Fusco Reservoir.(Photo: Suchat Pederson, The News Journal)

The boxes start over every morning.

"It's a simple sound like structure that has all these moving parts," Colorusso says. "That's the way I think about music. I think of it as blocks of sound, and how could I mix those different blocks."

When he realized that music could exist outside of songs, he says he felt like the world was a much bigger place.

"I like the idea of music that doesn't have a beginning or ending," he says. "It's just something you can plug into."

Contact Betsy Price at (302) 324-2884 or beprice@delawareonline.com.

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Artist and musician, Craig Colorusso does a sound check prior to his evening outdoor performance. The Delaware Art Museum hosts a 10-day exhibition which ends this Sunday in the Museum's Copeland Sculpture Garden, Craig Colorusso: Sound + Light features the artist's Sun Boxes with special presentations of his CUBEMUSIC in the Labyrinth in the Anthony N. Fusco Reservoir.(Photo: Suchat Pederson, The News Journal)

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Final days of Craig Colorusso's Sound + Light

WHERE: Delaware Art Museum, 2301 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington

WHEN: 9 a.m. until sundown through Sunday; on Saturday yoga in the garden is at 9 a.m.; on Sunday, sunset yoga is 8 p.m. in Fusco Hall with artist chat at 9 p.m. in the hall.

ADMISSION: Free for program, free for members, and pay what you want for non-members.